![Pieper James and Brendan Morais sit together on their date in ‘Bachelor in Paradise’ Season 7](https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Pieper-James-Brendan-Morais-Together-Date-Bachelor-in-Paradise-2021.jpg)
‘Bachelor in Paradise’: Brendan Morais Posts Apology, Deletes ‘Insensitive’ Instagram Photo
Bachelor in Paradise fans turned against cast member Brendan Morais this week. He recently deleted a photo with an insensitive caption and posted an apology on social media.
Here’s what happened and how Brendan is telling the world he’s sorry.
What did Brendan Morais do?
On the episode that aired Sept. 6, Pieper James showed up to the beach with a date card. At this point, Brendan Morais had already been in paradise for weeks and primarily showed interest in Natasha Parker.
Rumors swirled during the first week of the show that Morais was already in a relationship with James before coming to paradise. Brendan denied this, especially to Natasha.
When Pieper arrived, she immediately asked Brendan out on a date. This was an unusual move because most new arrivals talk to a few different cast members before choosing a date. Brendan and Pieper had apparent chemistry, and their conversations on camera made it seem like they were in a committed relationship prior to coming on the show.
After Brendan and Pieper went on their date, Natasha pulled Pieper aside to try to understand the nature of their relationship. Pieper’s version of events did not align with what Brendan had previously told Natasha on camera.
Viewers and other cast members on the island quickly determined that Brendan had been lying to and using Natasha to stay in paradise just long enough for his girlfriend Pieper to arrive. The two were dubbed “clout chasers” for coming on the show to get more social media followers and become a celebrity couple rather than truly finding love.
Brendan Morais apologized on Instagram
Until Sept. 8, the most recent photo on Brendan’s Instagram grid was a close-up of his face in a swimming pool. “Here for the wrong reasons 😏” Brendan captioned the photo, sparking a wave of backlash from fans of the show.
Brendan deleted the photo and caption and posted an apology in his Instagram stories.
The apology read, “After taking time to begin to process the events that unfolded over the past few days, I have realized I was wrong on so many different levels. First of all I removed my last post from my feed. I posted it before the episode aired and I had no idea the magnitude of hurt that I caused. My approach to many things in life is sarcasm. In this instance with regard to my post, I was completely insensitive. Most importantly I apologize to you Natasha. I hurt you. I am deeply sorry for doing so.”
Brendan continued, “I understand that the damage is already done and all I can do going forward is acknowledge the error of my ways. For those of you that felt my actions triggered certain feelings and emotions I am truly sorry.
“Lastly, despite the fact that Piper and I had misunderstandings going into paradise (and I can’t stress this enough) – if you feel the need to express disdain for the situation, please do so at my expense. I am completely at fault. A full statement and apology will follow.”
It’s worth noting that Instagram stories delete after 24 hours, so Brendan’s apology won’t last as long online as his post with the insensitive caption. It’s also worth noting that while Brendan apologized to Natasha for hurting her, he does not mention that he was already in a committed relationship with Pieper and had a plan to wait for her in paradise.
Pieper James also posted a photo on her Instagram grid with a similarly insensitive caption. Underneath a photo of herself posing on a cobblestone street, Pieper wrote, “All’s fair in love and war 😉” James has since deleted the caption but has not posted an apology.
Pieper also posted a TikTok video of herself singing along to Lizzo’s lyrics, “All the rumors are true, yeah; What ya heard, that’s true, yeah; I f— him and you, yeah; If you believe I do that; Had to cut some hoes loose, yeah.” Many fans of the show also found this TikTok wildly tone-deaf.
Bachelor Nation hasn’t forgiven Brendan Morais or Pieper James yet
Viewers are still upset with Brendan and Pieper. With the deletion of Brendan’s Instagram post, fans of Bachelor in Paradise have moved to the next photo to leave their comments on the situation.
One Instagram user wrote, “You’ve really disappointed me Brendan smh” while another wrote, “King of leading women on, super unattractive quality 😬”
Many defended Natasha with comments like, “Justice for Natasha,” “Natasha is a Queen how dare you???” and “Threw away a QUEEN for a roach 🥴🪳”
Pieper has not escaped criticism either. Fans of the show have been commenting their opinions on her latest Instagram post (the one with the deleted caption). The messages range from “Helping a white man publicly humiliate another black woman is not a flex.” and “You’re actually proud of what you did?” to “Girl if you couldn’t afford a vacation to Mexico then just say that 🤷🏻♀️” and “#teamNatasha.”